There once was a recycled newsprint producer that did a great job of training those collecting materials for them to hand sort and give them only high quality materials to the mill's specifications.

This mill kept their stock preparation area a secret and all wondered what kinds of equipment they had in there.

Many years later, a recycled containerboard manufacturer came to the same area. Their criteria for waste paper? They said they would take "Anything that tears!"

Working in the same markets, this killed the newsprint manufacturer. After all, what Boy Scout wants to carefully sort materials if they can get the same price by not sorting?

Today, we have MRFs (Municipal Recycling Facilities) to sort materials before they get to the mill.

But what if we could get even better sorting by incentivizing household waste generators to sort very cleanly themselves? Surveys continually show that households take recycling very seriously. It appears they would invest the time.

Recycled mills would likely pay more for cleaner waste streams. After all, they can see the result in their yields. It is easily measurable.

What do we have to do to make this happen? Should it happen? It seems like it has the potential to make mills simpler.

We will be announcing our 2014 LGMI Conference details soon. We have chosen a great location. You may want to come and share your wisdom or absorb the wisdoms of others. Watch for details.